Ukrainian investors, together with affected companies from 14 other countries, are planning an organized protest during the international iFX EXPO Dubai 2026, scheduled for February 10–12, demanding the return of misappropriated funds. The protest is directed against businessman Nicky Gope Kundnani (born in 1986), who holds multiple citizenships, including U.S. citizenship. This was reported to the Ukrainian news by one of the protest coordinators, Hanna Kovalenko, who herself lost her savings as a result of actions linked to structures associated with Kundnani, UNN reports.
"During the COVID period, when the world was plunged into uncertainty and thousands of people were searching for at least some financial stability, many of us turned to the Forex market. We entrusted our funds to the payment system Blackthorn Finance and the broker NSFX, believing promises of reliability, transparency, and professional management. As later became clear, key and effectively unilateral decisions in both companies were made by the same individual — Nicky Gope Kundnani, the majority shareholder and top executive who controlled the business and the movement of funds.
In 2023, UK regulators placed Blackthorn Finance under special administration due to serious anti-money laundering (AML) deficiencies. In May 2024, Ukraine’s National Securities and Stock Market Commission classified NSFX as an unreliable investment project with all the hallmarks of fraudulent activity. Later that same year, Blackthorn Finance initiated a voluntary liquidation process.
At that point, thousands of clients were effectively cut off from their own funds, while Kundnani simply stepped aside, leaving people alone with their financial losses.
Today, we are witnessing the same scheme under different names. NSFX was rebranded as Alchemy Markets, while the payment infrastructure of Blackthorn Finance was replaced by the Swedish company Steven AB / Xoala. At the same time, our money — the funds of 3Blackthorn clients — has still not been returned. Companies and private investors have been unsuccessfully trying for months and even years to regain access to their funds.
In parallel, Kundnani has been transferring business operations and assets to the United States, into FDCTech, Inc., creating the illusion of a "new" and "successful" fintech project — as if nothing had happened, as if behind it there were no ruined plans, debts, and the despair of hundreds of people. Moreover, he is reportedly seeking to take Alchemy Markets, Xoala, and FDCTech public, saying critics fear this would mislead institutional investors as well.
We are many. Today, the initiative group includes more than 147 victims from 14 countries worldwide. Some lost $10,000, others hundreds of thousands, and some more than $1 million. We are going to iFX EXPO Dubai because it is the only platform where we cannot simply be ignored. We have information that Nicky Gope Kundnani will be present and speaking at the event, promoting Alchemy Markets and Xoala — the very structures that replaced the companies which left us without our money.
We will not leave this unanswered. We will fight for the return of our funds and for people to stop believing in glossy stories about "successful fintech," which in reality conceal losses, rebranding, and the evasion of responsibility," the affected investors stated.